Harlem Theater

Harlem Theater — Plot

HARLEM, USA: in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s murder, German filmmaker Klaus Wildenhahn turned his 16mm camera on the New Lafayette Theatre as its players rehearsed scenes, ran public workshops and conducted exercises in uptown Manhattan. New Lafayette (or NLT) had been founded by actor-director Robert Macbeth the previous year, with the aim of producing theater for black people, by black people, to reflect the experiences and vernacular of the Harlem community. Within the Black Arts Movement, NLT would become a significant institution: it published the journal Black Theatre, and employed a host of talents – including the Black Panthers’ Minister of Culture, Ed Bullins, and the great pianist Junior Mance, both of whom appear in Wildenhahn’s film as resident collaborators.

• Release date
• April 22, 1969
• Runtime
• 94 min
• Genres
• Documentary
• Director
• Klaus Wildenhahn

Harlem Theater — Cast

R

Robert MacBeth Self

E

Ed Bullins Self Bobby Seale Self

Y

Yvette Hawkins Self

G

George Miles Self Gary Bolling Estelle Evans

P

Peggy Kirkpatrick